The Glenn Beck Program - Inside The Insane $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Bill | Guest Host: Justin Barclay | 12/23/22

Episode Date: December 23, 2022

Guest host, Justin Barclay Discusses the insane omnibus bill, update on the Kari Lake trial and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's release from jail. Rep. Bill Huizenga joins the show to discuss what is inside this crazy omnibus bill and what we can expect. Nick & Sarah Natale join the show to talk about their wedding venue business being shut down and being canceled, because they didn't allow a LGBTQ+ wedding to take place in their venue. Father Dwight Longenecker joins the show to give over his insight into why we celebrate Christmas and the origins of its history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Look, Air Canada F.A. Canada does a sold Mondial? Super, an offer for the Assort, station

thermal, volcano. You've seen the price for the Japan? M. Pairn and sushi. Wow,

the sold are good for Mayork also. We could go to the plage and do you see a long

march on the bar of the sea-sill. Mm, I adore the canolis. Attain, there's another

decision, VIII, this sold is a nurring limited, reserved to RKanada com or

to your agent of voyage, the conditions can't We need to apply. 60% of the vans on Amazon

come to end up non-de-sack Good. Hello, here Camille of Sac Magic. Our comprise chode-fraud

are fabriced in Quebec, and our presence on Amazon enlarge our clientele to our world entire.

Trouvey to like the own own on Amazon. com. Is the Fusion of

Entertainment the Glennback? Welcome and a Merry Christmas to you and is Justin

Barclay in for Glenn today on the Glennback program. We've got a we got a big

one lined up for you. Normally this time of year. Everything just sort of screeches to a halt. Tis the season. But no, no. They're even working on Capitol Hill today. That vote happening in the House, the $1.7 trillion

pork-filled omnibus package. We'll talk about that. The Kerry Lake trial. And yes, SBF, in jail, now out of jail. The Cryptocom. More on all of it coming up this morning. Justin Barkley in for Beck. Back after this. Justin Barclay and for Glenbeck today in the Glenbeck program. You connect with me at Justin Barclay, B-A-R-C-L-A-Y.

Dot com. Send me a message there. I love to hear from you. You know, it's kind of Friday going into the Christmas holiday. I think it'd be good to take a few calls today and hear from you, particularly among this, the different topics. The $1.7 trillion pork stuff, omnibus bill. But they have voted on in the Senate to pass. that goes to the house today.

They're still working up into the deadline. They'll get that passed, I'm sure. And then all the fun begins. But here's the number, AAA-727 Beck. That's 8-8-7-27-B-E-C-K. If you want to join the program, love to hear from you. We'll chat as things as move forward here in the program.

I just wanted to kind of break down for you so you can kind of understand what is in this. And there's more we talked a bit about this yesterday. and we've been talking about it. Glenn's been talking about it. I know it's hard to understand. I just want to give you a picture, though, when you think of a trillion dollars,

because we get into numbers like this. And we'll talk more about this later in the hour. But you get into numbers like this, and you just kind of lose track of how much a trillion actually is. Somebody called the other day and gave me the breakdown. I said, look, you know, it's unimaginable. it's hard to think about but a trillion dollars if if you're going to count to a trillion like a trillion seconds you just started counting a trillion seconds from here on out it would take

37,000 years to get there a trillion so that's how much money again we're just signing off on you know that sure this won't have any effect on inflation I'm sure it won't. You know, no, of course not. It couldn't possibly have any impact on the cost of everything as we move forward. Yes, that's on the agenda. We'll talk about that today. And I don't know if you saw, but SBF was arrested.

He was brought into the country. And now SBF has been let. Well, he's been freed. Sam Bankman freed has been freed and he is out. and I guess that with this big story about how much bail $250 million. And rightfully so, people started questioning. There's that much money out there? I thought he lost it all.

Where's he going to get that much money? Well, the truth behind that whole ordeal and what actually took place is something altogether different. It turns out he just gets to hang out probably in his PJs, very similarly to what Zelensky did when he came in. when he came into Congress, picking up some money. Yeah, no,

he gets to hang in his PJs at his parents' house, apparently until the trial takes place. So that's what we got to look forward to. Day two of the Kerry Lake trial has wrapped up and the Kerry Lake trial down in Arizona, some startling things that's come out of it.

She gave a statement yesterday outside of the courthouse. A quick statement. I am so incredibly proud of our amazing attorneys and staff that put this amazing case together. historic case. We proved without a shadow of a doubt that there was malicious intent that caused disruption so great it changed the results of the election. I'm incredibly proud of both Brian Blem and Kurt Olson who led up this legal team. We provided expert testimony. We provided experts. The other side brought in

activists to try to save face. They admitted that they've known about these ballot problems. They're ballot problems. Now they're trying to say that's been going on three elections our elections are a mess in this country and I am so happy to stand up and say no longer will we as Americans put up with this we demand fair honest transparent elections and we will get them and I pray so hard for this judge I think that he really took in all of that information I think he listened very closely to what happened and I'm fighting for the people of Arizona but not just for the people of Arizona. I'm fighting for the people of this country and for our future. If we don't have honest elections where we decide who represents us, then we don't have a country anymore. And

you know, the defendants, their attorney said it in his closing statement. He said, we choose our rulers. Isn't that telling? This was a selection, not an election. And we in America I choose who represents us. And we will restore honest elections. And I will never stop fighting. I will never stop fighting. So thank you. There she is, Carrie Lake.

And boy, I can't imagine. I can't imagine what she must be thinking about going through right now. There's a lot on the line down in Arizona. Who knows how that that's going to play out waiting. It's all of the judge now waiting. But some of the headlines, a day two now wrapped, the trial wrapped all together. this was a quick, try to get it out, try to get it done as quickly as possible. But here's some of the headline, just to think about this, what was actually happening down in Arizona.

And we kind of lose track of some of these things because we get wrapped up in the day to day. But it could not be by accident. One of the experts testifying about the key problem, 42% of ballots caused chaos. And one of the things that I saw, the numbers are right here. They allowed Kerry Lake's people. The judge allowed, because this is Arizona law, in fact, they allow them to take a look at the ballots. They might have questions about these things. They allow them to go in and take a look.

They get 15. Now, I said a big sample size, but, you know, folks are saying, wait a minute, 15, that's not enough. But even in the 15, they found, and this is something in the ones they looked at, particularly I believe it's Maricopa County, the one in question. the one in question. But the ones they looked at, they found 14 of the 15. 14 of the 15

had issues. Now, what are the issues? Mainly that this ballot, 20-inch paper, but the image of the ballot projected onto the paper, that's what happens. When you make a copy or something,

you put an image on a piece of paper, no matter if you're praying something at your house or wherever this might be. But the 19-inch image projected on a 20-inch piece of paper was the issue. That was the problem. And apparently, that's what caused all the issues in the printer. And when they went to go scan the ballots through the system, when the people had voted, they had filled out their bubbles and everything. They go scan it through.

They kept getting rejected. This is in Maricopa County. Day of voting. It only happened day of vote. Didn't happen any other time. Didn't happen anywhere else. Maricopa County. Thousands of people disenfranchised.

Thousands of people sent wondering that day, whether or not sent home wondering whether or not their vote is even going to count. Whether or not. not even counted at all. And they said, oh, just go out, put everything, put everything in this, in this drop box here. You know, they call it drop, was it box three or whatever they called it? No, put everything in the box here. Everything will be fine.

And people walked out wondering, what in the world happened? Does my vote, that my vote even count? Folks disenfranchised. And in fact, who knows the truth on that? And yet, we learned some startling things in the trial. as you just heard her mention. This is an issue they've known about. Now, here's a really particularly sticky, I would think,

legal issue for Katie Hobbs that's been revealed here. Now, I don't know how much traction this will get. Abe Homiday, which is the attorney demand running for attorney general, he also got to go to trial, waiting for the results of that trial. But this ought to be looked at. maybe even the sitting attorney general Bernovich could look into this as well because there's a sticky legal situation here

let me tell you what it is we'll get into all of that coming up in just a moment you can join the Glenn Beck 8-727 Beck B-E-C-K what what should happen now that we've got the we've heard from the experts we've heard the testimony we found out that there were problems what should happen do they need a new election you just insert her

in. I don't know if there's, if there's, I don't know what the legal process would be. I don't think that that would be part of it, but what, what do you do now that you've got all this information? AAA 727 Beck, B-E-C-K, back after this on the Glenbeck program. Sparkley and for back today, Justin Barkley in the Glennback program. Yeah, we're following the storm, the weather and all of the snowpocalypse. We'll talk about that, I'm sure, at some point today. But I will tell you, it's wild because this global warming. It's just had the complete opposite effect. We're under a blizzard warning where I'm broadcasting T live from in West Michigan.

Grand Rapids, high at top, and right now it's wide out outside my windows. It's completely wide out. Seven degrees, I think, is the attempts. Even lower in some places to the south of us, which is wild. But this thing is causing some issues for a lot of folks travelers. We'll talk about that coming up here in just a little bit. But boy, the climate change.

What is it now? Is it climate change? is that one is officially? It's a global warming. It can't be global warming anymore. This certainly isn't warm. It's not warm here anyway. I can tell you that much.

And essentially, this is winter. We have this every year. Hey, so back down to Arizona. 42% of ballots causing chaos, a key issue, they said amongst the 113, examined 48 of them had this problem. 19-inch ballots produced on 20-inch paper.

That was the problem. Now, here's the big issue. This may be a legal issue for Katie Hobbs, who was the Secretary of State, oversaw her own election to the governor in Arizona. Nothing to see here, folks. You know, there should never be even an appearance of impropriety in any of these elections, in any of these situations. There should never even be an appearance of it.

And yet that appears it's all we have these days. You know, they got questions. Anytime you got questions about something you're called crazy and the FBI now calling people conspiracy theorists when you're looking at the Twitter files of things that are dumped out? Well, I digress, but this is what we're seeing in every story we come across these days.

But Katie Hobbs might be in a problem. She might be in a bit of a pickle. Here's why. She certified this election. Then you say, well, what's the problem with that? She certified it. Well, the issue isn't just that she certified her own election that she oversaw.

but she certified it and apparently what just came out in this trial and we know this now is that she certified it knowing that this issue existed and it was still under investigation Maricopa County still investigating

in fact I don't know that we were supposed to find that out I don't know that anybody was supposed to know what exactly happened with these ballots and here's the other thing folks you've got to realize this. And this Carrie Lake trial down in Arizona, we would have never known. You would have run around saying,

well, that's, you know, that's odd that all these people had their ballots rejected. All these people, they went to go vote, and it went through the scanner, and it would pop out, and they don't know whether their vote counted. You said, well, that's a little, yeah, certainly that's a little straight. Something must have gone on, but you know, you might have said, it's just a glitch. It's just a glitch.

That's all that is. There's nothing. Nothing to see here. There's just a little glitcher. You might have just kind of shrugged it off. Could have anyway. But turns out the only reason we find out what caused that glitch is because this thing went to trial. And they got to inspect the ballots and they actually found out what was happening behind the scenes.

Now, your question and the same as mine, I understand that. I feel the same way. So, okay, now we know this. What happens next? Well, Katie Hobbs knowingly certified an election that had issues. Any legal recourse for that? What should happen? Not just in this case, but in all the cases, when we look at some of the problems that we continue to see.

In New York, let's go. I think it's Mark on the phone. AAA 727 BECK. I'm going to try and work as many phone calls as I can in today. just, you know, tis the season. Mark in New York. Mark, how are you? Good. How are you doing? Good. So, election issues, whether you want to call it fraud, what are you, whatever you want to call,

now we know. We know for a fact, at least one of the problems in Arizona. What should happen here? I don't really know, but I know that I live in upstate New York, a very small town, and we had the same thing happening in our very small town. It was my first thing. first time voting so I was kind of just getting used to everything but walking in I heard I heard a couple old timers kind of being like how many times is your thing try to go through and the guys said four times and I was like what are these guys even talking about you know so I stood in line and I get the thing it's clearly a strong it's a black box a very strong black box with a lock on it scantron the lady goes all right put your vote in you know scantron sheet goes in spits it out try

again put it in spits it out she goes hand me that we'll count that by hand later It goes behind a desk in a box, and that was it. That was it. I mean, this is not something I'm making up. This is literally in small town, rural upstate New York. And I was kind of like, I wanted to ask this lady, like, how do I know what you're doing with this vote? Like, this machine here is clearly made to make sure my vote goes and does whatever it's supposed to be doing. It's locked.

It's solid. And now you want me to just hand it to you? Like, I don't want to lose a joke. And, you know, it's interesting. bring this up because you're seeing it in in new york so this very similar could happen all over but let me ask you this mark i mean just personally for you did that did that like restore your confidence in the system did that did that do anything to make you feel better that your vote was going to be counted and the democracy was alive and well what did it what did it do for you hadn't that make you feel

honestly because it was also my first time voting i was uh yeah i was kind of shocked i mean if If the box, if the machine I was putting it in wasn't so clearly made to be like unbreakable, you know what I mean? To go from this machine that's made to take this ballot and, you know, make sure nobody can tamper with it to handing it to a woman I've never seen before to go behind the death. I mean, it was like, I thought it was like a game show or something. It was like someone was going to come out and be like, I was just kidding. You got punked. You got punked. You're on candid camera.

New York. New York was extremely close. for the first time and how long. Yeah. I mean, if this happened to how many people in upstate New York, just in small towns dotted around upstate New York, I mean,

I'm not some voter fraud conspiracy guy, whatever you want to call it, when things are not right, things are not right. Mark, I appreciate the phone call. You're absolutely right. We've got to get this back on track because if we don't stop this,

if we don't solve this issue, what's the point? I've heard so many people ask, like, what's the point? I'll give you a little more constant. We've got to continue to fight to fight, folks. We can't give up. But at the same time, we've got to solve these problems, and we've got to solve them for good.

You're absolutely right. You know, too many people have died. Too much blood has been spilled to make sure that this process works safely, securely, and that works with integrity. Speaking of integrity, the Senate voted. I know, it's hard. I shouldn't laugh. But the Senate voted to pass that $1.7 trillion dollar on the bus. Congress gets it.

The House gets it. Later today, we'll talk about that. at what's inside of it and more, all coming up in moments in a Glenn Beck. The Glenn Beck. Back on for Beck, it's Justin Barkley now in the Glenn Beck. You can connect with me anytime you like. It's Justin Barclay, B-A-R-C-L-A-Y.com.

Find out how we can stay in touch there. And send me a message. Love to hear from me. Taking several calls today, too, because, you know, it's the last day before Christmas. I want to make sure we end with a bang. 8-7-27- Beck, B-E-C-K. Zan 887-27-B-E-C-K.

We're talking the snow. We're talking the Snowmageddon snow apocalypse. And it is kind of nasty in some places. It's just looking and hearing some of the temps around here. Looking at some of the snow. Not as bad as what we thought we were going to get here or that they told us what we were going to get. But of course, keep an eye on that for you. Today, it's causing travel issues all over.

And I know that it will not be causing travel issues for those in Congress who are voting. today in the house. They're already there. Congressman Bill Heisinga from Michigan joins us now. Congressman, you got the Senate just passed this $1.7 trillion omnibus bill. It is just a pork-filled

I just technical term out here, Justin. We call them turd burgers. That's a big, giant massive turd burger. Yeah. Well, apparently it's also stuffed with lobster because there's money in here for favorite lobster groups and such as pork. Salmon lobster roll. I don't know. It's salmon's in there like 47 different times and funded the $3 million for a bee friendly highway system.

I'm all about, you know, that pollination and we've had issues with bees, but how in the world do you make a bee friendly highway system? I just, it's, it's this kind of stuff. And there's earmarks, chock full of earmarks. And here's sort of the insult to injury, right? So constitutionally, all these spending bills have to originate in the House. We're not even pretending to do appropriations processes anymore. And we're just sending these big beginnings of turd burgers over to the Senate. They add in their spices and secret sauce and earmarks.

and all the other good stuff. And then they drop it back in our lap with no ability to amend it, review it, anything. So the Senate left, they're all gone. Those of us that are here not voting by proxy, by the way, it is almost half of the U.S. House is voting by proxy. So they're not here. I don't believe it's legal or constitutional. So I am here. I have not voted proxy once in this entire time that Pelosi has been using.

this as a tool really for control. And, you know, here we are. And this is, this is the worst parts of how this system is broken is being shown to the folks. All right. So I got to ask you, Congressman Bill Hising. You guys are going to vote. What time does this vote happen today? Question. Rules Committee is going to be going in at 10 o'clock. They're supposedly doing an expedited rule committee. And so each bill that comes to the floor has to have a rule. Can you amend it? Can you not amend it? Time for debate, all those things. So we're going to have our first vote probably somewhere at no earlier than 1030, probably more like 11. And then there will be either an hour or maybe two hours of debate

on this omnibus bill. And then some procedural boats that are going to be happening. So it'll probably be somewhere between noon and two o'clock today. And then, then I'm trying to get back to Michigan, see my family. So I rented a RAM pickup, four-wheel drive, and I'm driving home because all the flights are getting canceled. Well, good luck to you and God bless, because it's going to be a fun drive, that's for sure. But, you know, I still think it'd probably be a lot easier than dealing with what you have to deal with in this vote today. Here's some of the statistics of what we're looking over over $100 billion after this thing gets. passed on the spend on the ukraine war once this whole thing goes through and uh you know you can talk

about whether or not you know we should be uh fighting this fight and how much money we should be spending and and and you know zolensky came over his PJs the other day and spoke to you guys in kind which is just crazy to me on the floor of the house that a guy is in a sweatshirt i mean i've never seen anything like this i don't know if you want to comment on that or not but yeah well we're not allowed to go onto the house floor dress like that. The rules require us to be in a coat and tie. And there was actually a fair amount of, you know, not to get too petty, but it was like, okay, dude, you couldn't put a tie on. Yeah. And I understand it's, it's about the optics and he's wanting to look like he's in the middle of a siege and all those things. But that's the problem.

That's the problem that this is all optics. And American people are seeing through this stuff, spending $100 billion in Ukraine and won't spend the penny to secure our border. I mean, folks have had it. Yeah. Well, and that's, you know, again, going back to this Omni, that's exactly right. You know, we are spending money in the Middle East for border security. We're spending it around the world, but we will not allow those resources to be used on our own southern border.

And it's a crisis. I mean, there is no other word that you can use other than ever. absolute crisis and disaster with what's happening. And it's going to get worse if the courts don't keep Title 42 in place. And we know that there's a record number of crossings that have happened at the southern border. Interestingly enough, CBP has not released the November numbers yet. We're 23 days into December. They won't release the November numbers. And it's not because they don't have them. It's because they're political and they don't want this to look worse than what it is. And if we don't have the border integrity, all right, knowing who and what is coming across our

border, that is a recipe for disaster. And this administration is standing by just encouraging it. Justin Berkeley and for Glyneback today on the Glemback program, we're talking with Congressman Bill Heisinga out of West Michigan, and he'll be there voting on the floor today. And I didn't get your answer. You're a no on this, omnibus? I just thought I wanted to make that clear. I thought that's what the answer.

Underline double exclamation, Mark, no. And one of the things that I think a lot of us have frustration is, why didn't they just let this slide so that when Republicans take over here, in January, we could work it out and have a little more leverage to do some of the things that need to be done, particularly when it comes to the border, et cetera. One of the things I know folks want to see is oversight on a lot of these issues. Hey, the FBI, man, and what we're hearing now, what's happening with Twitter and the statement the FBI put out the other day about conspiracy theorists. We have the emails.

Their own people are saying this. Congressman Hinescombe, this stuff. I don't know. How do we come back from this? Yeah. Well, you know, look, this is Jay Edgar Hoover type stuff, right? I mean, you have to be scratching your head if you're a regular American looking at this and just even sort of casually paying attention to what is going on. And you have to wonder how these governmental agencies have gotten so out of control and have really put our own constitutional rights and privileges under attack.

And it's not acceptable. Now, you know, one of the perverse elements of passing this omnibus this way. By the way, it should have been done. I mean, this is continuing funding for this current fiscal year, which started October 1st. So we should have had this all wrapped up in September. But nonetheless, here's. what funding all these governmental agencies through the remainder of this fiscal year through September means. They don't have to come to Congress for our oversight requests, right? They've

got their funding for the year. There's not going to be any pressure on that. So we're going to have to figure out how we apply that pressure properly and constitutionally as we are supposed to to make sure that we've got those answers. And so whether it's the FBI or a lot of the work that I do is with the Securities and Exchange Commission and their ESG agenda, that environmental, social, and governance garbage that they're trying to force not only onto publicly traded companies, but to privately held companies as well. And what things like that mean for our economy moving forward. So there's a lot of very, very serious issues that we have to tackle. the power of the purse is one of the main tools that that Congress has.

We have abdicated and given that up for decades, frankly, now, and it's just gotten worse, and we've got to restore that. Congressman Bill Heising, let me ask you before you go, you're also going to be overseeing some of this. This SPF FTX thing. Sam Beckman-F-Feed has been freed. Basically, they said $250 million bail. They got this guy back in the U.S. but that's not really the story.

The truth is he's going to go hang out at his mom and dad's $4 million home, and they put some of the equity of that thing up, and that's how we got. He didn't have to pay $250 million. This guy's going to be hanging out and his flip-flops, probably got his Zelensky sweatshirt on. I don't know what he's going to be in his PJs, you know, just having a good time. This is wild. Yeah, it is.

You know, look, this is the worst parts of Enron's business practices along with Bernie Madoff. This is just outright fraud. And the notion that these really kids had any business running these multi-billion dollar and multinational companies is ridiculous. They used quickbooks for their. Yeah. Just quickbooks to keep track everything. Yeah. Which is a decent program.

I mean, you just don't want to use it for a billion-dollar companies, you know? Exactly. And multinational, you know, international trades going on. And, you know, at the end of the day, the institutional investors who supposedly are very savvy investors got sucked into this. They found a politically progressive, very smart entrepreneur who was going to, quote-unquote, reimagined capitalism, them and all while making them gobs of money. Yeah, and they also sent half of it back to Maxine Waters and the rest of them. I mean, they all took the money too, didn't they?

Yeah, and that was, that was, that was a huge part of it is his growing influence that was here in Washington. So whether they were on Wall Street or whether they were in Silicon Valley or whether they were here in Washington, D.C., people were just fawning over this guy. and obviously it unraveled and I'm glad it did. It's unthinkable. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. I appreciate you giving us the answer on your hell no vote. We appreciate that as well. Congressman Bill Heisig, and thank you very much for taking the time today.

Hey, Merry Christmas to everybody and safe travels for those that are out traveling. And just please know this. We're going to keep fighting for the American taxpayer. and we are you've got a group of us out here in Washington. We're very eager to get back in the majority, but we have to use that majority for the right things. And we're hopeful that we're going to be able to do that. Yeah, I appreciate it.

Thank you, my friend. Merry Christmas to you. He's the craziest part about this Sam Bankman-Fried thing. He's out, $4 million, $4 million home. I guess that's on the line or part of it at least. He's just hanging out. Mom and Dad's house. It's like Christmas vacation for him.

He's Chevy Jay. Christmas vacation. He's going to do some sledding later on or one. I don't know, but that's, this guy's out. He's just, I mean, you're talking about the crypto comment and how many people lost it all, right? Because of this guy. And yet people that just took like a tour, they took a walk. The grandmas that took a walk through the Capitol, they're still locked up in jail cells in Washington D.C.

It's just nuts, but it's all part of what we're seeing as sort of double, well, The double standards that we continue to deal with. Barkley and for Beck today in the Glennback program. Quick break, we'll talk to you coming up to a AAA 727BECBECB. Beck. It's AAA 727 Beck. Back after this on the Glenn Beck program. This is the Glenn Beck program.

On the weather, 4,000 flights at least already canceled. Lots of snow, high winds, freezing rain throughout the country, sub-zero temperatures, power outages. Fox News has got this bug that tells you how many. people are without power throughout the country in different places. You know, watching all of us, but I think it's interesting to note this. Of course, they'll say it's climate change. It's not global warming anymore.

Can't say that because this is not, it's not very warm. In fact, where I'm at right now, I'm looking at a balmy seven. And I think even folks like South of me are even, are even colder. So we can't say it's global, we can't say it's global warm anymore, but they've gone throughout the entirely, you know, back in the 70s, they called this, what, the coming global ice age. Just this thing about the weather, it just changes. Now, whether you want to say that the climate is always changing.

In fact, it looks like it, it might be that that's the case. Many would say, of course, we're supposed to trust the science, right? The experts and all that. But only the certain way. We know the story, only certain ones. Some of them say the sun is kind of the, a big driver of all in this. The sun,

believe it or not. But we're told it's your SUV. So don't forget that if you're out and about trying to get your Christmas presents and get everything picked up today. Don't you know, your SUV. Don't drive that. You're just going to make things worse. You're going to make it worse.

Lots to discuss and of course, always a pleasure in the Glenn Beck program inside whether you're warm and cozy, Shut up by the fire. You're outside working in this thing, keeping everybody on track. We appreciate you and everything you do. Thank you for being here with us today.

Let's stay in touch. Go to Justin Barclay.com, B-A-R-C-L-A-Y.com, and reach out. We can connect. And check Theblaze.com for all of the latest updates because, you know, the news never stops. We wishing you the best. Whether you're sticking with us or that's it for you. Back next down, the Blenbeck program. is the Glenn Back program. Entertainment.

Man, and a Merry Christmas to you. It's Justin Barkley in for Glenback today on the Glennback program as we are full-blown in the season. We're watching the storm throughout the country. Making its way mostly to the East Coast right now, I got to tell you, we're hearing a lot about the impact of this storm. I've got some things that I want to share about it as well, but a story out of my own backyard that I just, I've been hearing a lot about Christians under fire. And it's not just Christians. It's folks of all faith. Faith under fire itself. I want you to hear about this couple that's going through it right now. How they're facing it. I think there's a, there's a lesson in it, share their story and more coming up after this in the

Glenn Beck program. So they're saying today thousands of flights canceled already and I'm sure this is going to be an issue for travel. Folks without power in states all across the country, we'll talk about some of that coming up and what the storm actually looks like. My view of it from where I sit in Michigan, which is very cold and very snowy nevertheless, but we'll talk about it all coming up, the impact. And what you may not be hearing or seeing behind the scenes

of everything that's breathlessly reported on television right now because everything's a big emergency. Everything's a crisis. And believe it or not, yes, everything, we do have a lot of crises going on, one after the other. Justin Barkley in for Glenbeck. We'll try to make sense of it all this morning. You want to stay in contact with me, Justin Barclay.com, B-A-R-C-L-A-Y.com. But I'd love to hear from you, so send me a message there on my website, or you can call AAA-7-27-B-E-C-K,

triple-8-7-27 Beck. I'd like to put a couple of more phone calls on the ear today, just as we get a little closer to the holiday season and wrap things up with a bang. But first, I want to tell you about a couple who have been through it. They are folks who, entrepreneurs, decided they were going to start their own business, a couple of faith, and that business happened to be a wedding venue. Nick and Hannah Natalee on the phone with us right now. How are you guys? You're very good.

How are you? Merry Christmas, T. Your story is really fascinating. You both worked in the industry. I guess, Nick, you were in the food kind of as a chef. and then Hannah, you were a photographer, is that right? That's right, yep. So you guys did these things before, and I guess you get married and you decide somewhere down the line that you've got a dream, which is opening up a venue.

And you happen upon a church, a beautiful church that needed a ton of work. What year was it that you guys may decide to make this leap and get into that church and start the process of really renovations? this thing and cleaning it up. Yeah, so we found this space in 2018, the beginning of 18. And it took us only just, I think, about three or four months to get in the building, see it with a realtor, purchase it. It was fast. We just knew when we saw it and we got in it, it was the one that we wanted,

despite the state that it was in. And, yeah, from there, it was a four-year journey. to get open just this summer in June of 22. You had COVID. You had all kinds of stuff that you guys went through. But you persevered and we're going to get open. But, you know, most folks, when they get open, they're probably feeling some sort of relief.

And oh, my goodness, here we go. You're probably hoping to feel that way too until, I mean, it really hit the fan. And your faith has come under fire because you sort of mentioned that it was going to be how you do business now i i understand that sort of the way the world works now what culture is they uh it'll mind you have your faith they'll tell you but just as long as you keep that private you're not allowed to talk about it you're not allowed to practice it uh in public apparently and that's that's what you guys found because you've uh been under

attacked by a mob of uh of the cancel culture folks tell us a little bit about what happened to you and when it all started. Yeah, well, going into the first year of business, we were hoping to get open in February because of construction and everything, we didn't get open until June, late June, and we had 30 weddings booked for, you know, within a five-month span, so we were really excited about that, off to a great start. And then 13 days after we opened, we had someone reach out, ask us if we host LGTVQ weddings. And with Nick and I in our faith, it was just something that we felt so strongly about to hold to our values as we opened this business.

And, you know, we're here to serve the Lord. We're here to serve Jesus. we're not here to serve the people. And so it was just, you know, we couldn't, we just couldn't do that. Like our hearts would not be able to, you know, continue with that kind of business and teach our kids one way at home and then run our business a different way. Like this is just, we're all in for Jesus. And that's no matter what we do in life, that's how we're going to run it.

And so we responded honestly that way. And that was on June 30. and that person that asked, screenshoted that conversation that I had with her and shared it all over her Instagram, and by the morning it had just spread like wildfire, and it was everywhere. The hate just, I mean, and from there on out,

like, it's been just hate. They just think we hate people, and that is not the case at all. They're just painting this picture that we are, the most evil, hateful people. And, you know, yeah, like I said, that's not the case. We want to celebrate love and the way God intended love to be celebrated and just this covenant between a man and a woman and God. And so that's kind of where we're at today. We haven't booked really much since we came out with our stance. Nick, I want to ask you a little bit about what has happened

and the attacks that have come. And you guys aren't looking to discriminate against anyone. You're just looking to conduct business the way your faith in accordance with your faith. And you've been attacked. It seems like this made the news. You've been attacked online. And that's caused people to decide they're not going to come to your venue. They're not going to have weddings or events there.

But it really also has, I think, showed you quite a bit about, who you are and who God is throughout the whole process. Yeah. I think one of the hardest walks that you can have is, you know, being humble and submitting to God's plan. And that can be very difficult for everybody. It's been extremely difficult for me. As a man, we tend to think that we can just fix it ourselves and put it in our control and we'll just take care of it type mentality. And, um, Um, it's, it's been a lot of our prayers lately, has been, you know, God, what do you want with the space? What are you trying to teach us through this?

Why are we going through this? Um, despite the outcome. I mean, we have to be very realistic in our financial state that this might not be happening. And we might be having to close our doors at some point. And that's maybe what God wants. Um, and he wants to teach. teach us that standing for him and fighting for him was more of what he wanted us to go through and for people to see.

You know, we've got a great support group through church, through my men's group, through friends, through family. And I think people keep telling us that is we don't know what the purpose of this is probably until it's all over and maybe years down the road. We won't know what his intentions were. and that's difficult because like you said we're entrepreneurs we open the business we have all these you know projections and and grandiose visions of what our business is going to be and then this has really halted that and made us stop and say okay lord what do you want with us and with this

space well let me ask you because i know you guys have a lot in line anytime you have to open a business or you put a lot on the line. What do you stand to lose if this doesn't work? Well, you know, it's a multi-million dollar project. It's over seven figures. And it's through an SBA loan. And, you know, it's a lot of money for us that would really put us, well, obviously put us out of business, closing the doors.

It's our livelihood. Yeah. So, like, that's gone. That's it. Yeah, pretty much. You know, I understand that you have kind of face this reality. There's a gives and go set up to help these folks out, by the way. I want to talk about the attacks that have been made and how you've handled them,

because I think that more than anything, that has given you, in fact, Nick, you told me, me last time we were talking about this, that you have been able to have some really good conversations with people one-on-one. I think there's a difference. And we get into groups of people. We get this mob mentality that can take place. But one-on-one, we've kind of lost that. Whether it's social media or some of the things that we see nowadays, this mob mentality takes over. What are some of the attacks that have happened that have come your way, some of the things that you've heard, and then how have you counted them and been able to have good conversations with people

and maybe be a shining example of your faith in that process? Yeah. You know, most of what we've received has been on social media, and it's, you know, it's anywhere from threats to your business, threats to your livelihood. People have made comments about comments on pictures of me with my children, calling me a groomer. Hannah has received phone calls that are just,

I can't say it on live radio, I assume. Just some nasty stuff, you know, wishing she be barren for the rest of her life. People were making false inquiries. for events at our space online, some of them would put, you know, the event type, child sacrifice, guest count, 666. Oh, my gosh. The person who's hosting the event is Satan, comments about things that Jesus could do with his male appendages to himself.

Just crazy, like, you read it and you're like, how do we go from, we believe, marriage to be a man and woman to death threats, pedophilia, you know, child sacrifices. Someone called my mom. Somehow they got her number, left a voicemail on her phone, berating her for raising me. How have you countered this? I don't want to say far back, because I think you've not fought in the ways that you probably want to us sometimes the ways that some might think about it. But how have you counted some of this? honestly through community our church our pastor my men's group has been great i think what i said to you last night was i'm a rather large bald white man with a beard which is basically the antichrist in this society

and you know i think there would be a stereotype to how i would how i would respond based on how i look and everybody's just told me, wouldn't it be amazing for you to just shine God's light and not respond with hate and, you know, try to speak love into the situation? And I think that's what I've tried to do anytime we've had media approach us

or, you know, I have had conversations with people with the opposing view. Once a couple at a wedding, that we were hosting. And it was, those are the best conversations you could have because you're not out to change someone's opinion or,

or belief. You're just voicing the depth of your belief versus a tagline on social media or the news, right? Homophobic couple opens wedding venue. No, that's not us. And when you actually get to have a conversation with people and say, this is what we believe,

and this is why we're running our business this way, it doesn't have to result in all of this that's going on. I want to ask you about legal issues. We've got to take a quick break, though, because you've come across some of those as well. You're under fire there. This couple is in Michigan, this Grand Rapids couple. You can help them.

We'll tell you how, and maybe they can help you when it comes to fighting back and finding out where that line is, because, folks, this is not the only incidents. you're going to have to figure out where your line is and whether or not you intend to stand in the future. We're seeing faith under fire in a lot of different ways

will continue this conversation. Right after this, Justin Barkley and for going today on the Glenback program. Talking with Nick and Hannah Natale right now in the Glenn Beck program, their couple who started a wedding venue. And as they started to get going, somebody inquired about a same-sex marriage. They said because of their faith. They just can't participate in that.

They're not homophobic, but they say they have Christian business values, and their faith now is under fire. You guys actually, Nick and Hannah, you've had some legal issues. The city has an ordinance that apparently has come up into the discussion here. You guys have gone to court on this, but actually, the news on this looks to be pretty good so far. You guys have yet to have your actual court date play out, but what you're hearing is pretty encouraging. But this is something I think a lot of folks are facing when it comes to the Christian businesses, especially with this new law that's been passed, where they're going to stand or not. So, want to ask you this, how did you make that decision?

And what would you say to others? Because I think we're moving into a time where we're going to have to make tough decisions, where is our red line? Where do we draw that line in the sand? What is it the point that we decide we're going to stand at, whether it's in our faith or whatever it might be, in our families and our work, whatever it might be, how did you guys figure that out? Yeah. So I guess I would start with the answer now and go back to when it happened. once you make the stand and you go through the fire, it literally is like gas on a fire. There's a huge ignition of, you know, again, social media, hatred, just slander, all these things.

And you're like, oh my gosh, why did we just make this decision? Like, this is terrible. And then it goes away enough with words and slander and that petty stuff. and then you start to realize why you made a stand. I would rather, and we have said this to each other, we'd rather look back and let's say our business has to close, and that's unfortunate. We'd rather look back, show our family, show our children

that we made a stand for exactly what we believe in, no matter the outcome, because we made the decision for God. Not for us. Not for our flesh. Not for anything about our culture, our society. It was, you know what? We believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.

And we're going to stand on that. And so what I would just tell people is there is that moment where you're like, oh, I could just, it doesn't really bother me right now. Or it doesn't affect my life. man the longer you go saying that the harder it is to stand once you get to a point where you realize it is something that's going to affect you gotta take a break here nick and hannah i appreciate you joining us the owners of the broadway avenue we'd like to help them out i put the link to the givson go at mr justin barclay over on twitter we're talking more about this your faith is under fire folks you're going to be test on the cusp of christmas our faith is under fire it's justin barclay in for glendon

Beck program and listen. I like that. We will. I will discuss good news, of course, and more in moments. But I think it's, it's important that we're realistic as well. And we talk about some of the things that that aren't fun to face. But particularly as these folks, this couple here in Michigan, is it on this wedding venue, the Nattalys?

They face a fight. They've made a decision. They've decided. to where the line is in the Sanford. Of course, the reason I bring this up is because we're all going to have to do that. At some point, we all are going to have to make that decision. We're all going to face a time. We're going to our faith. Something's going to be called into question. And it's best if we decide now have those conversations with our families, in fact, where we're going to be.

And why? Now, I just gave out, they have a give send go. What I really like about this as the Christian company, I think that it's like the, the alternative go funding. They have a give send go set up to help with any legal or any business expenses that may come up

as they fight this fight. On my Twitter, I put it up at Mr. Justin Barclay. So you can go on over and you can help these folks. But one of the things I just realized is yes,

you can give and folks are coming in to donate here and there and I know that they'll appreciate that. But one of the things I thought was the most interesting on this Gives and Go, they have a prayer button.

You can click for prayer requests. You can tell, let the folks know that you're praying for them. How great is that? I put the link to that of it. Mr. Justin Barclay over on Twitter. It's no surprise, but I just saw this, again, along with this marriage act that just passed. This is not going to be the only time you see this. In fact, there's a story out of.

the UK that's really concerning. A woman arrested what she was doing outside of the abortion clinic. And you would think when you hear this story, it's right out of a dystopian horror novel. Phil's on the line. Let me grab a quick phone call. You can join us at AAA 727 Beck. That's 888727 B-E-C-K.

Phil is up. Phil, you're on the Glenn Beck program. Appreciate you join us. Come on, Justin. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanuk. One question.

One question. Do these despicable people ever target a mosque and ask them to have an LGBT wedding? Or do they go to a halal bakery or and have them bake a cake? Is this ever brought up? Do they ever target them? Like, why don't they just let them run their business? You know, it's a good question. seem to be, for the most part, the ones under attack and the targets.

And thank you for your call, Phil. But I will tell you this. It's not only Christians. This new marriage act will target all of these folks. In fact, we have seen people of all different faiths come together, including Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Muslims to fight against, in particular here in Michigan, in Dearborn, against. some of these crazy pornographic books that were set in the school libraries. So I think folks of all walks of life, different faiths, there's an opportunity for us to come together and know that our faith is because it's not just, it is predominantly Christian, but it's

not just Christian. You see, the way things work for Marxists is the government and whoever is control of it. See, they have to be the, only source of everything. And in Christians particular, but anyone in of any faith, you have a higher power you believe in. Just like me. Day after the election, a lot of folks were upset and folks on the left said, I'm going to turn him on and see what he does.

And if he's crying, I'm sure he's going to be blathering into the microphone. And now he wasn't. I know this is a lot of people. But, you know, it's because my hope, my joy, my peace, it doesn't come from any man especially not one in office no politician nobody serving in D.C. or anywhere else my hope by faith

my judge doesn't come from any of that comes from a much bigger place this is why faith is going to continue to be under attack and that's why we've got to decide right here and now how it is that we are going to stand

Or fall. Over in the UK, a woman was arrested for silently praying. Police officer asked, are you praying? If I ask any questions about what's going on today, I have to caution you, which is just your rights, which is you do not have to say anything. It may harm your defense. You do not mention one question. Something that you later are in court and you do so many to give you.

What are you here for today? Physically understanding here. What are you here for today, he says? but she says well you know physically I'm just I'm just standing here that's not good enough he'll continue to ask her questions what are you here for today physically I'm just standing here

what here of all places I know you don't live this is an abortion something okay that's what you're standing here part of the protest just one woman out on a sidewalk one woman out on a side look One woman out of a second looks like it's a, it's, it's a, it's in any random neighborhood, but she just happens to be outside of an abortion center. She's standing there peacefully, quietly, silently praying, praying for those innocent lives.

What happens next? Police officer continues to question her. Are you praying? might be praying in my head. She says, I might be praying in my head, but not out loud. Why is that matter? I'll ask you once more. Will you voluntarily come with us now to the police station for me to ask you some questions?

They want to ask her some questions because she's praying. Today and other days where there are allegations that you've broken public spaces protection order. See, there's allegations that she's broken some sort of order over there, the public protected spaces. protected spaces and apparently not but you're not allowed to stand somewhere and pray if I've got a choice then no okay well then you're under arrest the count suspicion of failing to comply

with the public space as protection order under arrest preying outside of an abortion clinic you're this is this actually happened I'm not this isn't it so over the UK the anti-social behavior on the case

the anti-social behavior act of whatever he says you again you don't have to say anything you might harm your defense if you didn't mention one question some which you later on in court when you do say maybe give him you understand the caution I don't know your arrest is necessary you know from the prompts an effective investigation to the offense what that means is so I can ask you some questions but will people mainly service users in the clinic okay so so she's being

arrested mainly to protect vulnerable people I guess people going inside inside the abortion center there in the UK. Not to mention the vulnerable lives that will be murdered as they're inside. I know this isn't necessarily the jolly information that you may want to hear today. But folks, I do believe it's a wake-up call and it's one that we all need to hear. I know Glenn's talked about this quite extensively, what it might look like to stand, how your faith might be tested.

It's best to make these decisions now because we don't know necessarily what's coming, although we do know that inevitably we will have to make some tough decisions. It's best to make them now so that in the future, and those times do get tough, you can lean into a peace

have the courage to walk out what you've already predetermined. Merry Christmas. Back with more after this on the Glenn Beck program. Stay informed. Sign up for the free newsletter today at glenbeck.com. On a report here, folks. We have a bit of an update. A couple of things, actually.

We did some good news and some strange news in the Rona report. First of all, you know, Anthony Fauci is still, I thought this guy had retired. But the high priest to health, St. Anthony of Wuhan, Mr. Booster, he's still out there saying it's nice. Some people idolize. He likes to be idolized and put up on a pedestal, apparently.

It's nice that some people, you know, idolize me and put me up on a pedestal, but I don't get impressed by that. Oh, sure, sure, you know. Never have. Yeah, but you know what he likes. He likes that funding. for the gain of function research that he gets to do.

But I believe there's a lot. There's a lot of that actually, I think, in the omnibus. They're still funding that stuff. Big news out of Florida. Florida Supreme Court has approved Ron DeSantis requested a grand jury on COVID-19 jabs. On the Fauci-Occi. The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday,

ruling a grand jury requested by Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis to investigate the manufacturers of the jabs. This is after all of the sudden and on a crime. expected, you know, the sudden and unexpected side effects. There are no side effects. What are you talking about? Everything's safe and effective. We don't have any issues with anything.

No, please don't ask questions. That would be, whatever you do, don't ask questions. That would be too, too much. Hey, it turns out that exercise, let me get a load of this. Exercise lowers your risk. of death and severe illness. Now, isn't that something when it comes to the wrong? Who would have thought?

Who would have begun to even, but to believe that this was possibility. I would have known. I would have funk it. So much for closing gyms. Because it's you, you remember there's a guy in, I think his name's Ian.

Is it New Jersey? the guy under fire and they came after his bank account. I tried to throw the guy in jail all this for keeping his gym open. You know, through this all, we never heard a couple of very common sense and very simple solutions. Like, hey, you might want to move a little bit more. Get some sunshine, take some vitamins, eat a little bit better. No, we never heard that. We have just over and over again been beat the drum, you know, over our head.

This, well, there's only one solution. you must be mandated to take this one solution. You can't ask questions. You can't talk about it. You can't none of that. But it turns out this story is legit. Regular exercise predicts against fatal COVID. According to this new study,

men and women who worked out at least 30 minutes most days were about four times more likely to survive than inactive people. According to an eye-opening study, they called an eye-opening study in the post. My opening study. Exercise in coronavirus outcomes among almost 200,000 adults in Southern California. Study found that exercise in almost any amount, really, reduced people's risks for a severe coronavirus infection,

even people who worked out for as little as 11 minutes a week. Yes, 11 minutes a week. Now, I don't necessarily know what that counts, like 11 minutes a week. How would that be some sort of, you do some crunches, some push-ups? an 11-minute walk. I think most folks could get 11 minutes a week, and I don't know, it's heart rate up a certain amount or what that looks like exactly.

But can you imagine? Can you imagine? Finally, this is unthinkable. We've have some studies that show us, ah, mass mandates are not coming back, even though COVID is. That's the headline, a triple threat, They call it a triple threat of COVID flu and RSV,

pushing hospitals to the brink, several state health officials asking people to mask up, but not requiring it. It's a triple dimic. It's a triple themic, folks. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid. And U.S. life expected to continue to fall last year.

I wonder what's causing. Any ideas? Americans born in 2021 could expect to live just 76.4 years, according to the government data released yesterday. Drop from 77 in 2020. I wonder what could possibly be causing some of that. It's just strange some of these stories, isn't it? But Governor DeSantis down in Florida said,

hey, you know what? We're going to get down to bottom of some of this stuff. and there's Supreme Court allowing him to do that. Some good news. Don't lose hope, folks. The fight continues. As a matter of fact, we continue, if you stick with us to the next hour. We'll be here

if not. Always great to podcast glenbeck.com. This is the Glennback program. What to hear is the fusion of entertainment and enlightenment. This is the Glennback program. Until's the season, anyway,

we are on the cusp of of Christmas we're just, you know, just days away. Celebrating the birth of Jesus. Faith is a major part of our lives here in America, major part of the founding of this country, no matter what anyone tries to tell you. We're going to share some things about Christmas, and particularly the Christmas story

that may just strengthen your faith coming up in moments. Justin Barkley in for Glenn today, this is the Glen Beck program. It's the reason. for the season. No, we can't deny it. Hey, listen, if you're just going through the motions this Christmas, you may, I think, use a little jolt in your faith.

And maybe a reminder of why we celebrate. And hopefully that'll come into play here. Justin Barkley in for Glenn today. In the Glenn Beck program, you can connect with me everywhere. I'm out. Go to Justin Barclay.com. B-A-R-C-L-A-Y, Justin Barclay.com. send me a message there as well. Father Dwight Longenecker joins us right now. He's

a priest and the author of The Secret of the Bethlehem Shepherds and the Mystery of the Magi. A couple of great books for this time of year. In fact, I'm reading the secret of the Bethlehem Shepherds right now. Father, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate you doing this. Thanks for the invitation. Merry Christmas. So, you know, we hear the word, the term fake news quite a bit when it comes to things that we hear in the news and, and of course, politics and everything else these days. turns out it may not necessarily be intentional in some ways, but there are some things that may not necessarily be as true as maybe we heard traditionally through the years in Christmas stories.

And you did a little research project a few years back when you were able to kind of step away on a sabbatical and look into some of the stories that we hear in the Bible, particularly around Jesus's birth in the Gospels. And I wanted to give you a chance to talk a little bit about that and share what you found, in fact. So thank you for joining us and thank you for writing about it. I'm enjoying the book. It really is, well, it's interesting to see some of the true story behind the birth of Christ. Now, we're told a lot of things that I think folks look at,

even sometimes look at some of these stories like their fairy tales. But you've got some actual evidence that points to, not just Christ, but his divine birth. Yeah, we have to remember that these stories come to us from 2000 through 2,000 years of tradition. And through those 2,000 years, it's not only 2,000 years of tradition, but it comes to us through its own little pilgrimage or journey from the ancient Middle East through the dark ages, the Middle Ages of Europe, and then Northern Europe and England and eventually to the new world of our culture today. And so here in the 21st century, we're dealing with very ancient stories which have a long history of their own. And as it came along on that journey to us, it accumulated lots of extra baggage, extra traditions, beautiful traditions and beautiful interpretations of the story, which we now accept as part of the story and part of the whole thing. So I try to go back and sort of trim away all those extra accretions and all that extra stuff. up to see what the Gospels actually say, and how that fits with the geography and the

archaeology and the politics of the time. So what would be some of the things that you found to be the most interesting along your journey in the research and writing the book, The Secret of the Bethlehem Shepherds? Well, one of the things to remember also is that in our age, we are really lucky because we live in an age when through archaeology and forensics and textual evidence, we know more about the ancient Middle East and the time of the New Testament than our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents ever did. So this is an exciting time to be alive to experience all of these discoveries. But to get to answer your question, one of the things, for instance, is there was no

room for them in the inn. And of course, when we hear that, most of us in our mind will conjure up the idea of some kind of a medieval European tavern with a grumpy innkeeper out on the doorstep with his, you know, drying his hands on a teetown and saying, I'm sorry, there's no room for you here. You'll have to go to the stable over there across the hillside. Well, actually, the word that's translated as in, in our English translations, is the Greek word Cataluma, which basically means guest room. and I discovered that the houses in Bethlehem at the time would have been very simple one or two-room homes with a guest room built on either on the roof or off to the side. Because the Middle Easterners have a very strong tradition of hospitality and also especially hospitality for family members.

So the idea that Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus were homeless on Christmas night is something which we've sort of appropriated over the centuries and added in our own age because we have a natural compassion for homeless people and a good compassion for immigrants and so forth. But most certainly Joseph, the Holy Family would have gone to Bethlehem, Joseph's hometown, and gone to a relative's home and found that there was no room in their guest rooms, so therefore they were ushered to the stable. Now, these little simple homes would have been built in front of a cave. And if you go to the whole land today, you can still see these. cave homes. And the cave was reserved for storage. It was like the back room. It was reserved for

storage and stabling the animals. So Jesus would not have been born in a drafty stable somewhere, but in a cave that was used as a stable, which was kind of like the back room with a family home. Now, what about the manger and the story about being put in the manger, obviously the sheep playing a role here, and we see the animals in theativity scene, the wise men and all that, any of that? Well, yeah, again, the visions we have, the images we have of the nativity, which have come to us over these 2,000 years, are beautiful. They come to us from Renaissance paintings and Victorian paintings and modern day paintings

and stories and so forth. But these are imaginative works about what it would have happened based on the simple historic tale. There's archaeological evidence that there was. in between the two-roomed house and the stable behind it, there would have been a kind of half wall, which had a carved out place where the animals were fed. And this manger bed would have been where the baby Jesus would have been laid.

One of the most interesting pieces of your work and the research that you did, I think was talking about the story about how the shepherds were out in the field. and of course, maybe the story of why that was so important, the Lamb of God, all of that. And you found something to be a little, I think a little bit of interesting about the truth, about what was really happening in those fields,

and I think the truth kind of confirms some of this story. Yeah, there is a kind of preaching point, which circulates at this time of year and which preachers like to say, you know, the shepherds were sacred shepherds, and they were raising the lambs for sacrifice in the temple, and when the baby lamb would be born, it would be wrapped up in strips of claws and laid in a feeding trough

to be protected until the priest could come and investigate the lamb to see if it was worthy for sacrifice. Therefore, when the angel said, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger, and this shall be a sign unto you, that the shepherds would have known they were going to find the true lamb of God. Well, that is a beautiful preaching point, but I researched this very much in depth over the two months.

I was in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and I could not find any evidence for that story. However, there was a tiny scrap of evidence which points in that direction, and that is that in the Mishnah, which is a Jewish collection of rubrics and rules for worship and life, there is a reference that the animals that were raised between Jerusalem, in the hills between Jerusalem and Bethlehem is just six miles from Jerusalem, were to be used for temple sacrifice. So a lot of scholars do believe that the shepherds of Bethlehem were actually sacred shepherds, and that they were raising the thousands and thousands of lambs and sheep and goats,

which would have been used for sacrifice in the temple. So these really were in an area that really would have had some major significance there. Yeah, and I think that significance is there. especially when you look at the history of the Jews and the Old Testament of shepherds and lambs for sacrifice. Father Abraham was a shepherd, Moses was a shepherd, David, King David was a shepherd boy in the same hills of Bethlehem. And this area of the Hebron Valley was where those patriarchs eventually settled and where David was brought up and where he served, he looked after the flocks. So the whole symbolism and the history of shepherds and a close connection with, God himself, who in the Old Testament, is reckoned to be the good shepherd.

All of this sort of plays a part in the story of the shepherds in Bethlehem. Father Dwight Longanackers with us right now. He's read the book, The Secret of the Bethlehem Shepherds. I'm really enjoying your book, Father. You actually went there, you dove in, and I think there's a lot that comes to mind when we, the people of faith, and maybe you go to church, or maybe you read about or hear about these stories and just becomes part of your tradition, whatever it is when you see the Christmas story. But to actually go to where this all took place, it becomes a lot more real. You start to get

your hands in the dirt, so to speak. You start to really see some of the stories come to life in a lot of ways. What has that done for your faith? Well, I think one of the problems with Christianity in the modern world today is that for about a century now, scholars have been debunking the historical aspect of the Gospels and basically saying, you know, it's all a tissue of fairy tales and imaginations of the early church. These things didn't happen, especially the supernatural things, didn't happen. And I like to go back and say, well, let's read the text exactly for what it is and try to strip away a lot of our own imaginations of what that looked like or what that was like and try to imagine what was really like at the time, at the place, in order to understand more deeply and more fully the reality of historical aspects of the Gospels.

If folks want to get your books and maybe lean into a little bit more, I'm enjoying it this time of year. I think it's something we all ought to do, particularly the secret of the Bethlehem Shepherds in the book about the matchahs as well. Where can they go? Where can they find out more? Well, I have a blog. It's called it's at Dwight Longenecker.com. and just today I've blogged on the question, how do we know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? So people might like to go and pick up some of those extra readings there. The blog is free.

There's other content which are behind a paywall, but they're welcome to come and look there at my books as well, Dwight Longanekker.com. All right, so don't give it away, but how do we know? Well, very quickly, I don't know how much time we have, but basically the shepherds, we know from Luke's gospel, passed on the story of what happened and what they experienced that. night. The locals there in Bethlehem remembered the actual location of Jesus' birth, and in the year

135, really just about 100 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Emperor Hadrian built a temple on the site of where the birth of Jesus was already being venerated by the early Christian Church. So this is very early, the year 135. He built a temple to Adonis on that location, and then 200 years later when the Empress Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine, who became a Christian, comes to the Holy Land to find the sacred sites, that location of the Temple of Adonus built by the Emperor Hadrian was still there. And the locals said, yes, that emperor 200 years ago built the pagan temple on the site of Jesus' birth. So in trying to wipe out Christianity, he actually preserved the site for posterity.

and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem today is built on that same site. Fascinating stuff, and definitely a little something different for this time of year. Father, thank you so much for joining us today. Wish you a Merry Christmas. Thanks, your invitation. God bless. Father Dwight Longanacker and, of course, more at Dwight Longanacker.com. Justin Barkley, like I said, a little something different because tis the season.

Just days away here as we celebrate Christmas. Merry Christmas to you. back right after this on the Glenn Beck program. Stillway, not I vote in the house today? You haven't seen anything moving just yet for that $1.7 trillion, and that's just kind of like the estimate. Omnibus bill, we'll keep you up to date on that. Should we see something come to life on it?

We'll give you the answer. It looks like that's a done deal. But we'll give you the scoop, the details on that does happen. AAA 727 BECK is the number. That's 8-8-727-B-B-B-E-C-K. You can also send me a message if you like, Justin Barclay.com. Click on that link there at the website, Justin Barclay.com. Love to chat with you.

I'd like to fit a few more in before we're done today. Just phone calls, talking to you, give you a chance to sound off. And of course, as you get a little bit closer to Christmas in the holidays, the news doesn't stop. Used to be years ago, you would have a little bit of a break and things would be kind of really, slowing down. But this year, the last couple of years, really, what I've noticed, there is no stop. Never a dull moment. It's always like drinking from a fire hose. We do our best to stay on top of, of course, you're getting it at 24-7 at Theblaze.com. And of course, you know, we fill in paying attention to things for you. And we're going to have those

conversations about some of the issues that, you know, that aren't taking a rest. But I got to warn you, there's a bit of a, there's a bit of an issue with that too. You're constantly paying attention to everything. You're constantly trying to stay up to date with it all.

You're, you're, it's, you just never do it. You never can. It's never enough. And let me tell you, I've experienced this in my own life. You really can't, you can't keep up with it all. It's something that you will

chase and you will never be able to actually catch up with. So I give you some tips, just out of my own toolbox for making sure that you're able to kind of turn it off every now and then. I'm not telling you to stick your head in the sand necessarily. That's not what I mean. Ignore it all. I think it's important that we do stay on top of the things that are going on in our world. Of course, that is important.

I do believe that there are things that deserve more of our attention. Deserve a greater focus. I'll talk about that coming up here in just a little bit, too. But I want to give you some ideas, some things that you may actually come in handy over the next few days at the very least. Triple-8-7-27-B-E-C-K is the number. Yeah, we never get an escape from it. Part of it by design, if you look at the crisis, one after the other,

it's designed to keep you in a constant and perpetual state of reaction. What's next? Look at the border. Look at what they're doing in Arizona. Oh, my gosh, the election. Now they're going to sign this on the website. You see, it's one thing after another. And the reason why this can be so damaging is that, you know,

you're constantly going from one thing to the other and you're distracted. You're pulled in a million different places. And the things that matter most never get the full attention that they deserve. When you're pulled in so many different directions, you can't focus on the things that matter most. And you can't really get anything done. So you end up a lot of activity, but not enough accomplishment. at least not really any meaningful or effective accomplishment. And this is something that I think the Republican Party,

but not just that. The American people are feeling, experiencing, seeing on a daily basis. How do you find the calm in the chaos? How do you clear your head so that you can focus on the things that matter most? Because I'll tell you, it's going to be in the coming days, more and more important. really do want to take our country back. We get to learn a couple of things. I'll share how it's done as we put the wraps on this edition.

Coming up in moments of the Glenn Beck program. The Glenn Back in for Glenn. Justin Barkley on the Glennback program. You can connect with me at Justin Barclay, B-A-R-C-L-A-Y.com all over the place. Don't forget to check out the blaze.com. They're still running news, still going 24. of course they keep up with all of it at the blaze.com. And if you miss any of this program or any this week,

it's been some stellar programs this week. You can always catch up with the podcast at glenbeck.com. Wanted to take a couple of quick phone calls and get those in because, you know, this season, we're almost there for Christmas and I can get you in if I can. 3,8-7-27- Beck, B-E-C-K, 888-7-27-B-E-C, we'll deal with Porter in South Carolina. Porter, you're up first on the Glenn Beck program.

How are you? Good morning. How are you? Loving the program. Mrs. Glenn, best part of the day, actually. Yeah. Hey, for all those people that had to go through that big deal out in Texas where they had a power outages and everything,

things freezing and all, you know it's coming a little bit of common sense. This is your daddy talking to you. Okay. If you have access to a pair of bicycle pliers or even a street key, go out to your water meter, pull the lid off of it, turn it off at the street, go out to your lowest water spigot in the house, crack it open, let it drain out. You might also want to pull out the, you know, open the spickets in your house. Drain the water out of your pipes.

If your house is going to get, you know, below 32 degrees inside, you don't have heat, you don't have, you know, a lot of open insulation or any way to keep it, you know, warm, just get the water out of the pipes as much as you can. Porter, I appreciate that. You're right. This stuff will freeze over. And then they're not built for that in some place, especially Texas.

Appreciate that. This old house brought to you by Porter. Jeff in Georgia, Jeff, how are you? I appreciate it. I love talking to you guys. AAA 727 back is the number. How are you, Jeff? Hey, I am fine.

How are you doing? Wonderful, thank you. Good, good. Yeah, I was telling the screener there that I heard at the top of the hour some kind of bill got passed. It wasn't the omnibus bill, some other bill. But in it was a provision that Republicans had pushed for was that the military COVID mandate was dropped.

And I just want to know all the folks that were pushed out of the military, are they going to reinstate him because I worked with a lady and her son had 12 years in, straight out of high school, and they just pushed him out last month. That's the Defense Authorization Act. They put that through. McCarthy was able to get that done, and it looks like some of the good news there.

Jeff, amen. And they ought to get those guys back in, reinstate them. And here's what I'll add with back pay. Jeff and Georgia, appreciate you calling in. That is some good news. And in Michigan. Up next on the Glenn Beck program with some good news on your end. Ann, how are you?

Thank you. Listening to the program, loving it in this storm. Wow, a bright light. Yeah, I've got good news for everybody. If you're wondering what to do about your faith, we can do something. Holland, Michigan's mayor, Nathan Bach, with pressure from the Ottawa County Patriots, emails and calls,

has decided to declare April Faith, F-A-I-T-H month. He has declared June as Pride Month, and now we have this on our calendar. Now, we're going to have to rise up and meet and do things for that month. But on the other hand, I want you out there to know, get a hold of your municipality government, tell them this is what you want, you're the people, and do it politely, kindly, but with pressure. And here we go. 2023, Holland, Michigan is going to experience express size their faith right here in their city. I'm going to see it.

That's great news, Ann. Thank you for the call. You know, this is a good point. This is, you get people that think a lot of times, and part of this is we're meant to feel this way, folks. They want you to feel like there's nothing you can do. They want you to feel hopeless. They want you to feel helpless.

They want you to feel like it just doesn't matter. Don't try and fight. City Hall, you're never going to get it. That's the point of all this. and let's be honest I get it some of this I feel pretty you know down sometimes too but we've always got to remember

that no matter what we've got to continue to fight you got to keep it up those people that that made that happen that put the pressure on to get that done I mean it seems like a small thing you might feel we've got big problems here but all the politics is local

all of these things that we've faced on a daily basis and there's a storm of chaos I mean crises after Christ one after the other all of it what's happening down at the border to this inflation the omnibus they're going to pass are going to make things even worse and of course the election issues all of it every single bit there's I mean we could we could name peace after piece and we still wouldn't have enough time and go through an entire three-hour show still couldn't get done Your faith is under a tech. All these different things.

But it's designed to make you feel like you're, you know, you're overwhelmed on all sides. It's designed to make you feel like there's absolutely nothing that you can do. This is, this is part of the problem. But I'm here to tell you that there's just another example there of people standing up, deciding where they're going to stand firm, how they're going to fight back and doing. and I think in a way in which not only gets results, you know, it's effective, but it gives you a little glimmer

of what's possible. So congratulations to those folks who continue to fight back. Don't lose hope. I'll give you a little bit of how I think we need to learn to fight back. And it might be counterintuitive, in fact. It might go a little bit against the grain.

In fact, it might challenge some of the conventional wisdom of how we fight. You know, how you're supposed to fight. When we come back. Quick break, back with you, and some tips after this on the Glenn Beck program.

The Glenn Back Program. Merry Christmas. On the Blueback Program, it's Justin Barkley in for back today. You know, I want to give you some tips, some things of how we can stay fresh in a fight because, you know, there is a, I mean, the truth is,

when we face the fight that we face every day. In this country, for our kids, for the soul of this nation, you know, it can become overwhelming. There is quite a bit. And I hear it, you know, I do a show here in West Michigan and Grand Rapids. W-O-O-D, Wood, Wood, 3,1001069 FM. And I will tell you, this is big. a very tough year for a lot of folks with a very contentious election, specifically here in Michigan,

but all throughout the country, the midterms were really tough. There were some glimmers of hope there were some good pieces of news, but I think a lot of folks still finding, you know, where was that red way? The red tsunami, we heard about things like that, finding some challenging times in a lot of it. And let's be honest, you've got to be realistic. We got problems, folks. And I believe we ought to face those problems.

I believe we ought to go right through them. But I also want to tell you that one of the ways I think we often overlook in battle is, is it going to be completely, I think, antithetical in the way some folks might be thinking, but is to make sure that you're well-rested, to make sure that you don't lose hope. all of these next coming days, you might have an opportunity here or there to take a bit of a break. And we ought to.

You know, like I said earlier, the news never stops nowadays. It's like drinking from a fire hose. And in some days, a hydrant. Many times people have told me when I bring that up, it says, no, it's more like a sewage pipe.

You know, now that you mention it, yeah, especially some of these stories. It can be, but the news never stops. The cycle just continues. And I believe a lot of it, most of it, is really meant to overwhelm us, to really keep us from being able to focus.

It's meant to distract us. The fog of war, what they call that? Well, what happens if you get bogged down? You get demoralized. you're no good you can't fight you can't see the target you don't know what you're facing and if it's coming from all angles you can feel like there's no hope so what i suggest is taking some time i wrote a book a couple of years back it's called good news hope and encouragement for trying times and in the book well part of it for me was writing about my my first daughter and her

story. She was born around this time. In fact, December 6, 2020. She was born at 27 weeks. She was born early. The doctor said, oh my gosh, we don't know what's going to happen. Your daughter is coming. My wife's water broke. And we

didn't know what to expect. The doctor said they came in and told us all kinds of number of different things that could possibly happen and go wrong. And of course, even in the middle of all that I had a bit of a piece that know that everything

was going to work out. I don't know if I can really explain all of that. I do know. Now, it's the piece that follows me to this day, even in these times. But it's a piece that I

like to share with others if I can. I'd like to give it to you, but I can't just hand it over. You have to go looking for it yourself. I share in that book, part of my process. One of the things that I do, and I won't,

I won't bore you with everything, but one of the things that I try to do is make sure that I clear a little bit of time on my calendar to clear my head. And you may be saying, but I don't have time for that. You just don't understand. I'm overwhelmed.

It's so much going on. I just don't have time to sit down and clear my calendar. and do nothing. Well, you need it more than me then. But every morning, it's a little bit of time to set your day. Your GPS, right?

So that you know where you're going and you're rooted in a solid foundation. I read a devotion. I spend time reading my Bible. I pray. I talk to God. I try to listen. And give him a little bit of time

the first of my day. I'm always perfect with this, and some days are better than another. In fact, I got a little time off next week. I'm going to spend some time doing more of that. I think we overlook how important rest is. You know, God commanded it. The seventh day, even he rested when he made all of this.

And he didn't. have to. I mean, he's God. So there must be more to that. Maybe set of instructions for us. You know, we're human after all. We're frail. We're fragile. As much as we like to think we're strong, we can't do it all alone. The good news is you don't have to. Take some time and think about what matters most. Over the next couple of days, maybe you start to think about some of the things that are going well already. I like to make a list in the morning. Three things that are great.

Three things that are really, you know, I'm grateful for. Something I've been blessed with, my health, my children, whatever it might be. That'll be enough to set you up, I think, on the right path to making a difference. We need you in the fight. We need you well-rested so that you continue. Folks, I don't. ever want to see you give up. I don't ever want to get up.

We need each other. And we need to recognize where our strength and our home comes from. It is always an honor and a pleasure filling in for Glenn. Thanks to the folks back in Dallas who do such an amazing job. I kind of tell you, they make this look and sound so easy. They're fantastic.

Wishing you the best, no matter where you are. For more at Justin Barclay.com this Christmas season. Merry Christmas to all. God bless. This is the Glenn Back program. We'll say, in the phone, all the whole world can be a guy of the finance. Not a reason to have a gross mongrel in art,

to play to golf, nor be to be a pro of the crypto. Not even, no longer, you have always made some of the affairs, and the appli-negoti-tit-tit-T-D you add to renouwer with your instinct of negotiation. With the support 24 hours per day,

no amount of minimum, nor fraymentual. You're made for negotiate, and the appellee-negoti-tit-titre-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-Retre is made for you aid. Telecharge it right now.